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Updated: Jun 3, 2026
Enhanced Northern Blot Detection of Small RNA Species in Drosophila Melanogaster
Published on: August 21, 2014
Northern blotting
J W Pollard1, C R Perry, C F Thurston
1MRC Group in Human Genetic Diseases, Department of Biochemistry, King's College, University of London, London, UK.
Abstract:
Northern blotting is a way of detecting specific RNA sequences, homologous to a hybridization probe, within a complex RNA sample. In this procedure RNA is first separated by electrophoresis under denaturing conditions (see Chapter 1 ), followed by blotting onto a suitable filter. Specific sequences are then detected by hybridization. The RNA species are both immobilized on the filter and denatured so that when the filter is immersed in a solution containing a labeled nucleic acid probe, the probe binds to RNA of complementary base se?quence (hybridizes), specifically labeling the position on the filter that this RNA sequence has been blotted to from the gel. This defines the size of the RNA molecule complementary to the probe and can be used to compare relative amounts of the RNA species in different samples.
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